1) You will be able to breath underwater

Isn’t that the coolest thing to be able to do? I will never forget my first experience as an instructor when I saw the expression in the eyes of the 6 young backpackers who were breathing under water for the first time.  A mix between being surprised, happy, stunned and maybe a little bit scared.  It actually works, you can breathe underwater.

2) The feeling of zero gravity

Where else do you get the feeling of zero gravity? I enjoy it on every single dive, over and over again. It might not feel like that right on your first dives. The keyword is neutral buoyancy. This means to float, relative lightness. It is also one of the hardest skills in scuba diving. You will never stop perfecting your buoyancy. However, even at the start when you are slowly learning to control your buoyancy and breathing you will start to feel weightless.

Zero Gravity

3) Moving in 3 dimensions

On land it is only possible move in two dimensions, you cannot just go up or down from where you stand. Underwater however, you can move up and down without much effort. When you start getting better with your buoyancy control you will be able to rise and fall in the water just by controlling your breathing – wow! Try doing that on land….

4) Meeting creatures you didn’t even know existed

Before a dive the local guides will tell you what you might see during a dive but you will never know for sure before you’re there. There is such a huge variety in underwater creatures making it possible to encounter new ones on many of your dives. Loads of these creatures you did not even know existed before this specific dive.

Meeting creatures you didn’t even know existed

5) Being a visitor in a different world

As we do not actually belong under water, (if we did we would be much better swimmers or maybe would have gills – which would actually be neat), scuba diving allows you to be a visitor in a different world.  All the fish just do whatever they are up to and the diver is just an observer.  Sometimes it is possible to witness special interactions between some of the underwater creatures like schooling behavior, fights or even mating.

6) No distractions

The underwater world is very quiet and peaceful. You will hear your own bubbles but that’s about it. The communication between divers is mainly by using sign language from time to time. The silence, together with the feeling of zero gravity, makes it extremely easy to forget about everything happening above the surface. I normally just don’t think about anything that happened before the dive or what might happen after. I’m just in that moment, completely relaxed.

7) Meeting other divers

Divers are very friendly people. Arriving in a new place for you will find new friends immediately. There is always a topic to talk about; like places where you dived before, places you would like to go diving, animals you would like to see and so on. In my opinion it is even easier to make new friends when diving than it is in a hostel.

8) You’re protecting the marine life

By spending your money on scuba diving you protect marine life. Many marine protected areas were put into place because more money can be made from tourism long-term than by fishing. The more people that are interested in seeing the animals in their natural habitat the more effort will be put into protecting this environment.

9) It’s not that hard

The open water course takes 3 to 4 days. After some theory you will most probably already get into the water to do some skills on your first day and on the second you might even descend in the open ocean. After finishing the course you will have done 4 dives in the open sea, learned a lot about scuba diving and mastered your skills making you a certified diver. After this you can go diving in most places all over the world. Have fun!

If that is already too much effort there is the possibility to have a “trial dive” called discover scuba diving. During this you will be able to visit the underwater world accompanied by an instructor after a short theory and skill session.

Did you ever try scuba diving? What did you like most about it?